You probably already have some basic idea of what most people who follow most of the major world religions do each day. A lot of Christians say grace before meals, whisper prayers at night before bed, and go to church on Sundays. Muslims pray five times a day facing Mecca (something I’m not looking forward to). But what about pagans?
Well, here you go. Here’s the skinny on what it’s like to be a pagan in daily life.
In the morning, when I wake up, I say a little hello to the God and Goddess and the four elements. It goes something like this:
Good morning, Spirits of the East, Creatures of Air
Today with your blessing, I walk the path of inspiration and laughter
I follow the hawk on the ghost of the wind
I find my voice and speak the truth.
Good morning, Spirits of the North, Creatures of Earth
Today with your blessing, I walk the path of strength and success
I follow the steps of the wolf and bear
Abundance grows all around me.
Good morning, Spirits of the South, Creatures of Fire
Today with your blessing, I walk the path of passion and courage
I follow the snake through the silver desert
I create change with the flame of my will.
Good morning, Spirits of the West, Creatures of Water
Today with your blessing, I walk the path of beauty and love
I follow the dolphin into the hidden depths
My blood is the healing blood of the sea.
Good morning, Lord and Lady
Today with your blessing, I walk with you upon a path of my own choosing
Guide and guard me this day and always
By your grace, with harm to none, blessed be.
It’s kind of pretty, don’t you think? I memorized the basic words from a book somewhere, but now I can’t figure out which book it was and I can’t find it again, so if you have any idea who wrote it, I’d love to know so I can give him/her credit. I just know it wasn’t me. There’s far too much nature imagery for it to be something I would write.
Anyway, after morning prayers, I spend most of the rest of the day like everybody else does—working, eating (lots of eating), exercising (just a smidge and only if I can’t avoid it), whatever. In theory, I’m supposed to say a little prayer of thanks when I begin a meal, just like good Christians do, but I’ll be honest enough to admit that I’m usually so hungry that I forget all about praying and dive right in.
Depending on my mood and how much time I have, I might try to meditate. For pagans, meditation doesn’t necessarily have to be the mind-clearing, painful, boring nightmare that we talked about when I was Hindu. Pagans are big into visualization, so you can use your meditation time to visualize what you want in life and how you want it to happen. I’m very good at that. I never have any trouble at all picturing myself in fabulous surroundings because, hey, I deserve it, right?
So, at some point during the day, I try to get outside and spend some time in nature, as much as I hate it. Sure, my time in nature usually just involves walking the dogs, but at least I’m trying.
Besides, what constitutes “nature” around here is pretty appalling. Have a look at the photos below, and I think you’ll agree that it’s a wonder I go outside at all. The Dallas area is not quite the forested, hilly majesty that a girl from the Northeast is used to. They call these sad, scrawny things trees? Really?
Finally, at night, before bed, I say some good night prayers to the God and Goddess—pretty much the same stuff I say in the morning, but it’s “good night” instead of “good morning”—not too difficult to remember.
Overall, it’s not too taxing an existence. Being pagan is actually kind of pleasant. There’s no kneeling for hours, begging an angry God for mercy. There’s no underlying guilt over having committed “sins” when you really don’t think you did anything wrong. And there are no dietary restrictions. I’ve got to say, I’ll be very sorry to see this paganism thing go.
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